GLONASS Tracks Father Frost
As the end of the first decade of the 21st Century approaches, a resurgent Russian Federation seeks to compete with the West in numerous areas. One of these areas is competition by the Russian Father Frost with the western-oriented Santa Claus and in turn competition by the GLONASS Tracks Father Frost Project with the western-oriented NORAD Tracks Santa Program. History 2009 In November 2009, for the first time, the Russian Federation offered competition to the NORAD Tracks Santa Program by planning to use their GLONASS (GLObal NAvigation Satellite System or “the Russian GPS”) to track Father Frost (“or the Russian and Soviet Santa Claus”) on New Years Eve (per the Gregorian Calendar) and to help Father Frost and his helpers navigate on their gift giving journey. How well this actually worked on New Years Eve of 2010 is not known. Not to be left behind by the NORAD Tracks Santa Program and OnStar, the GLONASS Tracks Father Frost Project and GLONASS in 2009 equipped Father Frost’s sledge and other vehicles at his residence in the town of Veliky Ustyug in Vologda Oblast (Region), Russia with GLONASS navigation systems. 2010 with GLONASS Navigation Staff]] tracking Father Frost and his Navigation Staff]] On November 18, 2010, the competition between the NORAD Tracks Santa Program and the Russian-led GLONASS Tracks Father Frost Project heated up when both the Ria Novosti (Russian International News Agency) and Voice of Russia announced that for Father Frost’s November 18 birthday, Ivan Nechayev, the executive director of the Russian Navigation Technologies company http://www.autotracker.ru/en/, presented Father Frost with a special staff equipped with a GLONASS navigation module in the crystal-shaped top of the staff. The navigation crystal is 180 centimeters (7 inches) in height and weighs 3 kilograms (7 pounds). The navigation crystal transmits Father Frost’s coordinates to a special center, which publishes them on the internet, at website of www.dmglonass.ru, so that everyone can follow his progress on his traditional voyage in preparation for the New Year. Ivan Nechayev, mentioned in his remarks that “Technical innovations have become an essential part of modern life. Therefore, Father Frost has mastered computer skills, receives e-mails from children, has blogs in social networks and uses a cell phone to communicate with other magicians.” Everyone has the opportunity to observe the movement of Father Frost during his November and December travels in real time on the Official GLONASS Tracks Father Frost website of www.dmglonass.ru, which is in the Russian language (a language ignored by the competing NORAD Tracks Santa Program). Father Frost's November and December 2010 travels included stops at Salekhard, New Urengoy, Tolyatti, Ulyanovsk, Naberezhnye Chelny, Arkhangelsk, Misnk, Belarus, Klaipeda, Lithuania and Riga, Latvia, and Moscow, the capital of Russia. He made other stops at Kostroma, where he met with Snegurochka (the "Snow Maiden"), and in the near-Moscow Korolev he made contact with the the astronauts and cosmonauts in orbit at the International Space Station. In Strasbourg, France, he met with his winter holiday Santa Claus, Saint Nicholas, and Father Christmas counterparts of Europe, made a visit to Cannes at the invitation of the City Hall, and visited Peine, Germany. Ded Moroz's 2010 tour ended in St. Petersburg, Russia. Father Frost's 2010 tour ended in St. Petersburg, Russia. Official GLONASS Tracks Father Frost website The Official GLONASS Tracks Father Frost website of www.dmglonass.ru has these features in the Russian language: 1) real-time tracking of Father Frost, 2) News of Father Frost throughout the year, 3) Father Frost's Diary of his travels, 4) A form to send e-mail to Father Frost, 5) Photo Albums of Father Frost's activities, 6) Videos of Father Frost, 7) Streaming audio ofFather Frost's favorite songs (in Russian), 8) Poems and verses from children's letters to Father Frost, 9) Information on Father Frost's town of Veliky Ustyug in Vologda Oblast, Russia. 8) Opportunities to enter contest and other events for gifts and prizes, 10) Information about the GLONASS Tracks Father Frost effort and project, 11) Information about the partners in the GLONASS Tracks Father Frost effort and project, and 12) Informtion about the 2009 activties and successes of the GLONASS Tracks Father Frost effort and project. Sponsors and Partners. The GLONASS Tracks Father Frost Project is made possible by the excellent work of its sponsors, partners, and those providing publicity and information support. Co-Sponsors are the Russian Navigation Technologies (RNT) http://www.autotracker.ru/en/ and the Vologda Oblast (Regional) government http://vologda-oblast.ru/main.asp?LNG=ENG. Partners include: the "Ded Moroz" (Father Frost) Travel Agency OAO (Unlimited Joint-Stock Company) http://www.oao-dedmoroz.ru/ (link in Russian}, the Official Tourist Information Center of the Vologda (Oblast) Region http://vologdatourinfo.ru/ (link in Russian), and the Russian Telecom Club http://www.ptti.ru/?q=views/eng. Publicity and Information support are provided by the "Courier Media" Publishing House http://kurier-media.ru/ (link in Russain) and the IMKON-Media Communications Agency [] (link in Russain). References External links * Official GLONASS Tracks Father Frost (Russian "Ded Moroz") Website (Russian) * NORAD Tracks Santa Program Facebook page story on the competition by the GLONASS Tracks Father Frost effort by the Russian Federation(English) Category:NORAD Tracks Santa Wiki